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This Is Why It's Good to Have Brown Fat (Sounds Gross, but Look at This New Research!)

When it comes to body fat, not all kinds are created equal. White fat (the kind of fat that develops after eating fatty foods) is tasked with the job of storing energy and producing hormones that it then releases into the bloodstream. Brown fat, on the other hand, is believed to act more like muscle than like fat once it's activated—in other words, it may actually burn extra calories and your stores of white fat .

Now, researchers have identified the presence of brown fat in a living adult, which could mean interesting future developments in weight control and maybe even help in keeping diabetes at bay.